"The Picture of Dorian Gray" By Oscar Wilde

This was one of my first successful forays with classic literature. I hadn't read much other than massive quantities of Edgar Allan Poe, and this was one of the books in my family's library that had an interesting cover. For your information, the cover to the left is similar, but the one I picked up had a purple cover with an extremely abstract "picture of Dorian Gray", and this one came closest.

What do I mean by "successful" forays? I had previous attempts at what I call "dust bunny farm" classics, that sit on shelves more as a status symbol than anything else. No one reads them because their language is too archaic or convoluted to comprehend easily, at least for the modern reader. I understand the place and need for those books, but they are never first on my reading list.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is by one of the Society of Authors I'm Obsessed With, the charismatic Oscar Wilde. Oscar was bisexual when it wasn't "cool", resulting in his imprisonment for immorality, which then caused his death, penniless in Paris at 46 years old. He was, quite simply, born into the wrong age. If I could choose one deceased author to converse with for a day, it would be him because of his famous wit. For example, his thoughts on trendy clothing:

"Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months,"

   ~Oscar Wilde


 The Plot: Artist Basil Hallward paints a portrait of Dorian Gray, who happens to be his ideal of masculine beauty. Dorian wishes he could remain as pretty as he is in the portrait, and in his place, the portrait would decay. This idea is placed in his mind by the conniving  Lord Henry Wotton, who believes in a life filled with pleasure and beauty is a life well spent (hedonism, essentially). Dorian meets Sibyl Vane in a run-down playhouse, promptly proposing. Her brother James tells her if she is hurt in any fashion, he will execute Dorian.

Dorian decides to take his chums Basil and Henry to see her perform "Romeo and Juliet". She acts atrociously due to her fondness of Dorian, and he casts her aside. He comes home to see his portrait smirking menacingly at him, and realizes his dream has come true. He also realizes what he did to Sibyl was unforgivable, and chooses to rekindle their flame.

I consider Dorian Gray a kind of vampire, despite not imbibing in blood, as he indulges in every other sort of fancy. He is a type of early anti-hero, leading a double life and enjoying it. It is assumed that Mr. Wilde based Dorian loosely after the theme of "Jekyll and Hyde", as he admired the work greatly. I think this is very true, but Dorian Gray is still unique in various other ways.

The Picture of Dorian Gray was extremely controversial in its day. It was said that it would taint every young mind it came into contact with, due to its homoerotic overtones (Basil admired Dorian a little too much). Mr. Wilde decided to add some extra chapters and tone down the objectionable content. Despite the censorship, this book is still chock full of murder, mayhem, and egotism. I underlined many passages in this book when I first read it at thirteen, as the writing was so fluid and lovely. There are exceeding numbers of highly relatable quotes, witty banter, and an overall satisfaction that you cannot experience unless you've read it. I wish I still had my old beat-up copy, but it was lost, and with it many of the quotes.

Rating: 5 of 5 stars for immortality and immorality!

 Content: I read this earlier, but Scholastic advises it Grade Level 9+ (Or roughly fourteen years or elder) for violence, gothic horror, and hedonistic themes.

Page Count: 254 pages